Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors M Beanland and J Saunders.  Councillor S Gardiner was in attendance as substitute for Councillor J Saunders.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests, other registerable interests, and non-registerable interests in any item on the agenda.

Councillor S Gardiner - In the interests of openness, during consideration of agenda item 6 - Cared for Children and Care Leavers Scorecard, Councillor S Gardiner declared an interest by virtue of the fact his husband was a partner in a law firm who occasionally represented cared for children living within Cheshire East.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 3 December 2025.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 2 December 2025 be approved as a correct record.

To receive a presentation from the Shadow Committee on work being undertaken.

The presentation provided an overview of the participation in recent activities involving care leavers and cared for children.  Key points included:

• My Voice (Children in Care Council) had relocated its sessions to the Monks Coppenhall Family Hub.

• New Ambassadors had joined the team to work alongside the existing Ambassadors in supporting care experienced young people.
• A Local Review Event was held in November 2025.  Young people provided feedback, which indicated that:
  • Improvements had been made in the post?21 offer, access to support, and communication between housing services and care leavers.
  • There was a preference for professionals to meet young people in youth?friendly spaces rather than adult environments.
  • There was a desire for practical information packs and opportunities to learn independent living skills within hubs.
• Ambassador Workstreams:

·         Work was currently taking place to develop a housing manual and improving accessibility of information in multiple languages.

·         Improved ways to gather views from groups often missed, including young parents, unaccompanied asylum?seeking children, and those living out of area, was being sought.

·         New independent living packs for care leaver hubs were being produced.

• Care Leaver Survey Results:
  • There had been 49 respondents, which equated to 8.4% of the population. 
  • Overall results were positive in the following areas:
    • Support received: 7.9/10
    • Feeling safe at home: 8.5/10
    • Involvement in decisions: 7.9/10
    • Readiness for education/ employment/ training/ apprenticeships: 7.5/10.
  • Lower?scoring areas included:
    • Usefulness of pathway plans: 6.3/10
    • Readiness to live independently: 6.7/10
    • Ability to see family/friends: 6.9/10
    • Budgeting: 7.1/10.
  • A notable gap was identified between physical health (7.6/10) and mental health (6.8/10), which suggested a need for improved mental health support for care leavers.

• Activities and Engagement:
  • Young people had taken part in activities including go?karting, cooking, and crafts.
  • Work was ongoing to develop pen profiles for professionals, following young peoples’ requests for parity and transparency.
  • Young people met with the Director of Children’s Services and had contributed to projects including the experience passport with the Virtual School, and children’s guides.
  • An activity day involving 13 participants had taken place during February half?term.  Councillor Crane, who attended the event, also provided positive feedback to the committee.

• In terms of next steps, these were outlined as follows:
  • To explore recognising the ‘care experience’ as a protected characteristic within Council policy.
  • To implement changes based on survey findings, including developing one?minute guides on pathway plans.
  • To continue co?production of the cared for children survey and progress bespoke projects with young people, such as pen profiles and experience passports.

The committee commented on the following matters:

• Ways of increasing survey participation.
• Low uptake of Personal Advisor (PA) support.

• Improving lower?scoring service areas.  Officers confirmed that work was underway across health, housing, and education partners to address identified areas for improvement.

• The implementation of pen profiles for all professionals working with care experienced young people.  Members emphasised the importance of pen profiles for all professionals and corporate parents, noting that this would help young people feel more at ease when meeting unfamiliar  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

To receive an update from the Corporate Parenting Executive Board.

The committee received a verbal update on the work of the Corporate Parenting Executive Board, which focused on three workstreams: ‘Good Homes for All’; ‘Good Health and Wellbeing’; and ‘Good Education and Skills’.  Key points included:

• ‘Good Homes for All’ Workstream:

·         Progress was reported on the Housing Charter, which was now in place.

·         Bi-monthly Registered Provider meetings brought together housing providers, youth ambassadors, care leaver ambassadors, Children’s Services and Housing.  These meetings promoted shared understanding, best practice and joint problem-solving to ensure the Housing Charter was actively being applied.

·         Work was underway with young people to gather feedback on their experiences of moving into independent accommodation.  This complemented the rollout of the National House Project.

·         Feedback covered both practical needs, such as equipment and furnishings, but also the emotional aspects of transitioning to living alone, with emphasis on ongoing support beyond the initial move.

·         A new Common Allocations Policy was being finalised.  The wording relating to care leavers’ housing priority was being revised into clear, plain language following officer review, prior to public consultation.

·         Significant progress was noted in housing support for care leavers over recent years.

• ‘Good Health and Wellbeing’ Workstream:

·         Emotional health was a key focus of discussion.

·         A recent audit of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) showed strong partnership working, good oversight of health actions, and all outstanding TB screening appointments had now been secured.

·         Case studies highlighted positive trauma?informed practice and improved emotional wellbeing support for UASC.

·         A new Care Leaver Ambassador had joined this workstream and was contributing positively to shaping priorities.

·         Local offer themes were being strengthened, including enhanced support for young parents and increased awareness of NHS services.

·         Work was underway to improve NHS app adoption during preparation for adulthood.

·         Ongoing challenges remained in relation to CAMHS-to-Adult Mental Health transitions, with risks of young people falling between services.  Local work was examining whether some should remain longer within CAMHS or transition earlier, to ensure continuity of support with no service gaps.

• ‘Good Education and Skills’ Workstream:

·         The current focus was on employment and employability.

·         Gaps had been identified in communication relating to job fairs, apprenticeship opportunities and similar events.  Further feedback from young people highlighted the need to improve communication channels to ensure they were accessible and relevant to young people rather than adults.

·         A proposal was being developed for a large-scale corporate event bringing together all Council services to showcase employment and skills pathways for cared for children and care leavers.  Although the proportion of care leavers in education, employment or training was improving, further progress was needed.

The committee commented on the following matters:

• Raising the corporate profile of the Council as an employer and expanding opportunities such as work experience, job shadowing, and early exposure to Council workplaces and roles.
• Transitions between services remained a recognised challenge.  Members welcomed ongoing work to prevent young people being moved between waiting lists when transitioning from child to adult mental health services.
• A Member sought assurance that the Council was being reimbursed by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

To receive the Cared for Children and Care Leavers Scorecard for September - November 2025.

During consideration of this item, in the interests of openness, Councillor S Gardiner declared an interest by virtue of the fact his husband was a partner in a law firm who occasionally represented cared for children living within Cheshire East.

Consideration was given to the Cared for Children and Care Leavers Scorecard, which covered the period September - November 2025.

The key highlights from the Scorecard were:

• There had been a reduction in the number of children entering care.  Numbers had decreased from 540 in August to 526 in November, reflecting strong decision?making and effective support enabling children to remain safely at home where appropriate.

• Discharges of Care Orders: Progress continued for children successfully living at home, supporting greater permanence.
• Placement stability: Children with three or more placement moves had reduced from 60 to 55.
• Staying Put arrangements had increased from 49 to 56 young people remaining with foster carers post?18.
• Out?of?area placements: Eight fewer children were now living out of area.
• Assessment timeliness: 80% of children now had up?to?date assessments - a 10% improvement since the summer.
• Access to higher education: 24 care leavers were currently in higher education - up from 21 in August.
• SDQ reporting now aligned to the national 12?month reporting measure.

• Dental checks: Reported decrease from 95% to 75% was due to delayed data entry rather than reduced activity.
• Pathway plans and PA allocation: Timeliness and PA allocation remained below desired levels.  Lower PA allocation for 16–17?year?olds, 45%, was linked to vacancies and sickness within the team.  Recruitment and a planned expansion of PA support to younger age groups aimed to address this.
• There would be continued focus on assessment quality and timeliness.

• Improved external support was being put in place for managers to strengthen oversight and decision?making.
• Ongoing permanence work, including long?term matches and Special Guardianship Orders, was taking place.

The committee commented on the following matters:

• In relation to SDQs and health-related timeliness, concerns were raised regarding delayed data from health partners. Officers confirmed the data had now been received and partners were working collectively to prevent gaps.

• PA capacity: officers clarified that this was affected by staff instability and that improvements were expected.
• Adoption delays: It was explained to Members that national and local factors had contributed to these, including court processes, emerging family options, and the need for high?quality evidence.
• Children’s participation in reviews and reasons why participation had reduced by over 10%.
• The length of time children remained in care.  Officers explained that multiple factors influenced timescales; oversight processes were in place to track any delays.
• Missing children data and fluctuations throughout the year. Officers explained that some children experienced repeat missing episodes, often for short periods, e.g. under 24 hours.  Weekly multi?agency meetings reviewed all children with frequent missing episodes, supported by contextual safeguarding.  All missing children received a return home interview to understand causes and plan tailored support.  Reasons for going missing varied and may  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.